Clip-on walkway for Whanganui’s Aramoho Rail Bridge still without funding

The project was originally scheduled to be completed in the 2023/24 financial year. Photo / NZME

The estimated cost of a new clip-on walkway for the Aramoho Rail Bridge has almost quadrupled since it was proposed and the project is being reassessed.

It was originally scheduled to be completed in the 2023/24 financial year.

Earlier this year, tenders for the project came in far above the $2 million budget - at between $2.7m and $3.5m - and that put it over the threshold for NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi’s (NZTA) low-cost, low-risk funding.

Projects in that category must be under $2m.

A report from Whanganui District Council transport manager Mark Allingham said the current cost for the project was now $4.5m.

There needed to be “a comprehensive assessment of costs and benefits” before a funding application was made to NZTA, it said.

If successful, the agency would cover around 60% of the cost.

Allingham told councillors he understood funding for the project could come under NZTA’s bridge renewal category.

The council would put its ”best case forward“ and there was a lot of data on cycling and pedestrian numbers over the bridge.

However, he said he could not comment on how strong the case would be to the current Government.

The bridge has an estimated annual user count of 126,600 and is the only upper-river accessway between Whanganui East and Aramoho for pedestrians, bicycles, scooters and mobility scooters.

Allingham confirmed the walkway was still being maintained and would remain operational in the meantime.

Essential repairs, completed earlier this year, cost around $10,000.

The project was initially budgeted at $1.2m but that was impacted by inflation and higher design, consenting, labour and material costs.

Council reallocated a further $1m in mid-2023 following a report by WSP bridge engineer Tony Moran saying the current walkway needed replacing urgently.

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.